As a basketball player growing up, I always loved shooting the ball (who doesn’t?). I used to spend my entire lunch break on the bottom playground of Lagan College Belfast (my alma mater) shooting around and playing pick-up basketball with friends. Those were the good ol’ days – I’m turning 25 this year, and I think I’m having a pre-mature mid-life crisis. It wasn’t until I left school that my love for shooting was surpassed by another skill; passing.

PG's have to see the floor

Have you ever seen Steve Nash throw a no-look pass; driving into the key with the sole intention of drawing the defence and dishing it off to a slashing teammate? Or, have you witnessed Jason Kidd orchestrate a fast-break like he was the conductor of a world-class symphony? Or, maybe you’ve seen Ciaran McVeigh thread-the-needle on a pass like he was an award-winning mathematician; working out every angle while calculating the velocity and distance of the type of pass needed in a split second?

If you have no idea what I am talking about, check out the top 10 from my favourite PG in the world: Steve Nash.

Over the course of the next few months, I will be interviewing some of the best point guard’s in Northern Ireland, as chosen by the team at The Courtside Collective. We will be focusing on PG’s from throughout the province and across the different leagues, including (but not limited to) U13 Girls, U16 Boys (inc. the development league), the Women’s League, Men’s Premier League and even some of the legends of Northern Ireland playmakers.

Who do you think should feature in The Courtside Collective’s best PG’s? What would you like us to ask them? We welcome any and all your suggestions (even if they are ridiculous). Use comment section below orclick here to contact our team directly.

Co-founder of The Courtside Collective, Tony has been a player, scorekeeper, referee, coach and MC. A true fan of the game! In 2009, he coached women's basketball in Sweden for a season with the Umeå Comets ("Udominate"). He then returned home and worked with PeacePlayers International, which uses the game of basketball to bring young people together from divided communities. Tony has since joined Google and has worked in Dublin, Singapore, and now London. He is now working to create a new basketball league to provide a better basketball experience for ballers in central London and with the added goal of engaging young people in the sport.